A nice effort, but iShark iPhone game goes belly up

I don’t have anything against simple action iPhone games. A game like Gold Keeper 2, where the only object of the game is to maim the endless line of opponents coming at you, can be fun when done correctly. The iPhone game (99 cents) takes a similar concept and puts it into the ocean, but the pieces don’t add […]

I don’t have anything against simple action iPhone games. A game like Gold Keeper 2, where the only object of the game is to maim the endless line of opponents coming at you, can be fun when done correctly. The iPhone game (99 cents) takes a similar concept and puts it into the ocean, but the pieces don’t add up to a successful outing at sea.

An iPhone game like this generally hinges on the controls. If it’s not easy to control your character, it’s not going to be easy to eat, kill, or crush your opponents, which makes the whole experience frustrating. That’s basically the problem with iShark.

The game instructs you to “draw lines” in the screen to move your shark. You don’t have full 360 degree control of your shark; instead, you have these lines. You can move side to side easily, but going straight up or down doesn’t really happen. Other games of this ilk have opted for a sort of virtual analog stick on the screen, and iShark would’ve really benefited from such an addition.

Additionally, the ocean level you’re swimming in is pretty small. It doesn’t take long to go from one side of the screen to the other, and while that’s not a game killer, it adds up when you’re tired of munching on the same swimmer, boaters and odd fish over and over again.

Given the low price of iShark, it is far from a total disaster, but I’d skip it if you feel you have better options for a simple brawling action game.

Dan Kricke has been playing with electronics and writing about them for years. He loved his Sega Dreamcast and now the PlayStation 3. On the iPhone, he's a fan of sports apps and anything that offers new music.